Streamlining

Streamlining is shaping a body to reduce resistance as it moves through a fluid. Its effectiveness depends on speed, fluid properties, and the body's size and shape.

Drag (physics): Drag is the force that resists an object's motion through a fluid. Streamlining aims to reduce this force.
Airfoil: An airfoil is a cross-sectional shape designed to produce aerodynamic forces as fluid flows around it. Its profile balances lift generation with drag reduction.
Fluid mechanics: Fluid mechanics is the study of liquids and gases at rest and in motion. Streamlining is one application of its account of forces and flow.
Bluff body: A bluff body is a shape that causes substantial flow separation and a broad wake. It produces greater pressure drag than a streamlined shape at comparable conditions.
Boundary layer: A boundary layer is the thin region of fluid whose motion is affected by a surface. Its behavior determines how fluid flows along a streamlined body.
Automotive aerodynamics: Automotive aerodynamics studies how air flows around road vehicles and affects their forces and performance. Vehicle bodies are shaped to reduce drag and manage airflow.
Viscosity: Viscosity measures a fluid's resistance to deformation and internal flow. It affects surface friction and the flow regime around a body.
Drag reduction: Drag reduction is the broad effort to decrease resistance on bodies moving through fluids. Streamlining is a shape-based approach within this wider goal.
Flow separation: Flow separation occurs when fluid detaches from a surface, creating a wake and often increasing drag. Streamlined shapes delay separation and shrink the wake.
Ship hull: A ship hull is the watertight body of a vessel that displaces water as it moves. Hull form controls resistance through water, where wave-making also matters.

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